Gary Welford

Sunderland AFC will honour the stars of Rio 2016 as a host of this summer’s athletes visit the Stadium of Light.

A number of athletes from Team GB will take to the pitch during the half-time break at the Black Cats' fixture against Arsenal on Saturday, October 29.

Sunderland runner Aly Dixon, who represented Team GB at Rio 2016.

Among the stars will be Paralympian gold medallist Matt Wylie, and long distance runner and British marathon champion Aly Dixon, who famously celebrated qualifying for Rio 2016 with a “Borini”, made famous by SAFC forward Fabio Borini.

Gary Hutchinson, commercial director at Sunderland AFC, said: “Team GB enjoyed phenomenal success at Rio 2016 and we can’t wait to honour the achievements of the athletes from across the country.

“We hope everyone attending the Arsenal match on Saturday will join the club in thanking the athletes for all their hard work and bringing such pride to our nation.”

The Black Cats v The Gunners is a 12.30pm kick off. Tickets remain on sale, priced from just £27 for adults, £23 for over-65s and £12 for under-16s.